Left alone
by canonS400

Comment:
Good DOF but I don't understand its relation to the challenge. I look forward to seeing your comments. - 6

Desolated Region
by brentpaugh

Comment:
Imaginative entry. The model is not the subject of this study. The lack of a physical presence is. Great interpretation. - 9

Shadow and Lines
by cimarron98

Comment:
This strikes me as a great abstract shot. Not sure what it is but it is surly desolate (lonely)

Inside Herself
by sagestudio

Comment:
Downcast eyes or at least no eye contact would have reinforced the concept of this image.

Beware the Crocodile's smile.
by JC_Homola

Comment:
Creative idea but IMO the lighting is too weak on the bird and the focus is on the teeth rather than on the bird outside the mouth. I think you'd get more impact if the teeth were out of the depth of field.

peeking through the pipe
by shutterfly

Comment:
Composition
This image benefits from the slightly off-center feel that is generated both by child's face not being centered over the ridge inside the pipe, the angle of the ridge running through the pipe and the lighter shade on the right side of the picture. A tighter crop and cleaning some of the debris out of the pipe would have given this photo a different, albeit not necessarily better, look and feel. This is a good example of leading the viewer into a photograph without having to use leading lines (aside from the ridge). This could have been enhanced with a tighter crop. I like the use of a "cute" subject without overwhelming the viewer with the childish "cuteness". You captured the life with the eyes and the involvement with the start of a smile.

Color
The lack of vibrant color around the edges of this picture compared with the bright blue of the child's eyes and the solid red in the lips helps focus the viewer on the child. The bright pink in the child's top and the slight color around the far mouth of the pipe distract nominally from the child face and the picture would probably benefit from having those dodged.

Lighting
The subject could have benefitted from some reflected light to fill in the space around the eyes as they are such a large portion of what gives this image its life. The light you choose to shoot in, however, was good for this. Much more light and some of the colorful features of the child would probably have been washed out.

Focus
Fairly good focus but the depth of field seems to begin at the end of the pipe (notice the apparent focus within the end of the pipe) and not completely extend to the child (notice the fuzzy focus on the teeth). I'm guessing the DOF was set by the camera but this image would have benefitted from a DOF that was set farther from the camera to blur the end of the pipe and still keep the child's face in focus.

Overall
This is a good example of "Inside Looking Out". It lacks a certain vibrancy and immediacy that commend it to the ultimate level of photographic art for me but it is a solid performance and an ingenious use of an otherwise "cute" subject. For these reasons, I give it an 8.

Beyond The Grotto
by Faye Pekas

Comment:
Like the composition and the color choices. What method did you use to get these tones? Good use of textures between the soft clouds, the active ocean and the dead/inert limb and cave.
With this being grayscale or duotone I would like to see this a little less silver. - 7

Old City Center Breezeway
by shareinnc

Comment:
The metering in this photo was challenging I'm sure. The dark bricks on the right with the sunlit bush on the left probably overwhelmed the camera. I wonder how this shot would have come out if somoene were standing out of view to the left with a large piece of white posterboard or something to reflect some light back into the bricks. The bars in the FG are already black but I'm thinking that will a little side light flowing into the bricks you could have stepped the lens down a little and gotten more definition on the bush and blossoms without losing any of the brickwork. 7

Looking back
by heida

Comment:
The look on the model's face is good with most of the tones but the darker tones behind the model and the hot light around the bottom of the photo don't seem to compliment the central subject. The use of the window frame is good. I would have liked it better if you could have diffused some of the light that hits the bottom of the image.

Obscured Perspective
by ellamay

Comment:
I like this photo. It has an atmosphere of surrealism. My first thought was of a ghost or spirit watching, trying to understand or communicate.